India’s oldest political party and one of the oldest in the world, the Indian National Congress declared the results of its presidential elections. Former Minister and party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge was declared the winner of the internal party polls held on October 17.
Kharge swept the party’s high-stakes presidential polls with over 7800 votes in favor. While his opponent, former minister Shashi Tharoor trailed behind with a little over 1000 votes, over 9000.
All delegates of the Congress Party voted in the presidential elections held after a long haul of 22 years. Notably, this is only the sixth time in the grand old parties’ nearly 137-year-old history that an electoral contest was held to decide the next president Mallikarjun target will now replace interim president Sonia Gandhi, he said to take charge after the Hindu festival of Diwali.
This will mark the first time in 24 years that a non-Gandi will be heading the party. The long-awaited election was held amid the Congress party’s poor performance in recent national and state elections, many within and outside the party pressed on the need for internal reforms.
Once a formidable political force to reckon with the stature of the Grand Old Party currently is at an all-time low in Indian politics. A major allegation against the party was nepotism and lack of internal democracy and the presidential election was a good point to start with.
However, the winner of the contest, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge is considered a loyalist of the Gandhi family. He was seen as Gandhi’s unofficial, official candidate, with a large number of senior leaders backing him, his rival Shashi Tharoor pitched himself as a candidate of change.
